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  Language weakening Johnson Amendment removed from tax bill

  Removal of language from the Senate tax bill that would have allowed churches to engage in partisan politics without losing their tax-exempt status represents a victory for religious liberty, advocates of church-state separation insisted.

  12/19/2017 - By Ken Camp / Managing Editor

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  Court lets stand Texas ruling potentially blocking gay spousal benefits

  The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a Texas case involving a city that extended benefits to same-sex spouses of employees.

  12/06/2017 - By Ken Camp / Managing Editor

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  Supreme Court hears arguments on wedding cake case

  The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments Dec. 5 in the case of a Christian baker in Colorado who refused to design a wedding cake for a same-sex couple.

  12/06/2017 - By Ken Camp / Managing Editor

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  Bill that would allow churches to receive FEMA aid advances in Congress

  Churches, synagogues, mosques and other faith-based community centers damaged in a natural disaster could be eligible for federal disaster relief funds under a measure approved by a congressional committee.

  12/04/2017 - By Ken Camp

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  Supreme Court denies hearing to Birdville school board prayer challenge

  The U.S. Supreme Court announced Nov. 27 it would not hear a case challenging a Tarrant County school district’s practice that allows students to lead public prayers at school board meetings.

  11/29/2017 - By Ken Camp / Managing Editor

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  State Department misses deadline to name religious freedom violators

  The U.S. State Department failed to release a list of the world’s worst violators of religious freedom by a Nov. 13 deadline, even though Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has said religious freedom is a “human rights priority” for the Trump administration.

  11/21/2017 - By Emily McFarlan Miller / Religion News Service

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  Religious holidays and public schools focus of essay contest

  Students can win money for college by writing an essay discussing whether public school calendars should accommodate religious holidays.

  11/20/2017 - By Illana Ostrin / Baptist Joint Committee

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  Charleston pastor shows solidarity with Sutherland Springs

  In the wake of the shooting massacre at a Texas church, Pastor Eric S.C. Manning has visited members of his own congregation—Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church—to see how they are coping with rekindled memories and ongoing grief.

  11/15/2017 - By Adelle M. Banks / Religion News Service

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  Pence tells grieving town, ‘Faith is stronger than evil’

  Vice President Mike Pence traveled to Sutherland Springs to offer prayers and words of comfort to a stricken community three days after a lone gunman killed more than two dozen people during a Sunday morning church service.

  11/15/2017 - By Yonat Shimron and  Kimberly Winston / Religion News Service

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  House tax plan weakens Johnson Amendment

  The tax-reform package U.S. House of Representative leaders released Nov. 2 would weaken a provision in the tax code that bars churches from endorsing political candidates without jeopardizing their tax-exempt status.

  11/07/2017 - By Ken Camp / Managing Editor

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  Wedding cake court case draws varied Baptist responses

  Does a Christian baker have the First Amendment right to refuse to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple? It depends on which Baptists you ask.

  11/03/2017 - By Ken Camp / Managing Editor

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  Conservative black clergy back baker who refused gay couple

  Conservative African-American clergy accused LGBT activists of hijacking the civil rights movement and launched a campaign to support a Colorado baker who refused to create a cake for a same-sex wedding.

  10/24/2017 - By Adelle M. Banks / Religion News Service